D. V. Sadananda Gowda – BJP Torchbearer

Devaragunda Venkappa Sadananda Gowda was sworn in as the 20th Chief Minister of Karnataka. Once B. S. Yeddyurappa resigned as Chief Minister, D. V. Sadananda Gowda was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on the 4th of August 2011.

Sadananda Gowda remained in power till the 12th of July 2012. He was succeeded in the Chief Minister’s office by Jagadish Shivappa Shettar who is the current Chief Minister of Karnataka.

From Student Politics to State Assembly Politics

Born in 1953 in a small village called Sulya Taluk, Sadananda Gowda was a politician in the making through his college days. A science degree from St. Philomena College, located in Puttur, paved the way for a law degree from Udupi Vaikunta Baliga College of Law.

Politics and leading people enamored Sadananda Gowda in college. His interest and zeal led to his election to the post of General Secretary of the students union of the Udupi Vaikunta Baliga College of Law.

As a consequence of his post as general secretary, he was elected to the post of District General Secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a right-wing all India student, part of the RSS.

Once he completed his education, Sadananda Gowda dappled in practicing law in Sulya and Puttur. The job and the work did not satiate his hunger to help people and lead from the foreground. He resigned and moved to further the political career that took birth in his college days.

Various Roles

His political career was a slow climb. He set foot in serious politics through RSS, the political wing affiliated with the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. When the Bharatiya Jana Sangh party dissolved and merged into the Janata party coalition, Sadananda Gowda moved with the party. He was elected to the post of President for the party segment located in Sulya. When the Janata Party split, Bharatiya Janata Party rose out of the ashes and Sadananda Gowda essayed various roles such as:

Dakshina Kannada Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha President

Dakshina Kannada Bharatiya Janata Party Vice – President

Bharatiya Janata Party Secretary for Karnataka

Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha of Karnataka Secretary

National Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party

Sadananda Gowda stood for election to the State legislative assembly from Puttur constituency and won the seat twice, once in 1994 and once in 1999. He was elected to the post of Deputy Leader of Opposition in 1999.

Notably, Sadananda Gowda was involved with the co-operative movement and the Labor movement in Karnataka. He served the people of Karnataka long before his role as Chief Minister through various other roles. He was a member of several important committees like the committee on commerce, committee for energy, fuel and power, public accounts committee and public undertaking committee. He was nominated to be the President of the Public Accounts Committee in 2003.

Sadananda Gowda won the 14th and 15th Lok Sabha elections. After the 14th Lok Sabha elections, he was appointed as the Director of the prestigious coffee board in January 2005 by the Government of India. BJP Gowda with the post of Party President in 2006. He lived up to the expectations by leading BJP to its first every win in South India in the 2008 elections.

Yeddyurappa mentored and personally chose Sadananda Gowda to be the Chief Minister when he resigned from his post following allegations regarding involvement in an illegal mining scam. Sadananda Gowda worked tirelessly to erase the scars to his party from allegations of corruption.

His vision to improve the effective delivery of government services was evident from his implementation of the Sakaala scheme through which government services are bound by a pre-set time limit. A few months into his work as chief minister fault lines began to appear between Yeddyurappa and Sadananda Gowda’s relationship. The cracks widened and led to disputes between the party members. Eventually, Sadananda Gowda had to step down from his role as chief minister.

In Narendra Modi’s government he held the Cabinet positions of Railway Minister & Law Minister.